1884 



GLEAKINGS IK BEE CULTUKE. 



9t 



HOW RAISE THE BEST QUEENS? 



Cells from the full colony, deprived of queen or 

 cell, left by the first natural swarm. 



F. M. Blanchard. 

 Orwell, Ashtabula Co., O.. Jan. 20. 1881. 



FHAMES FILLED WITH FDN. MADE BY THE GIVEN 

 press; A SUCCESSFUL SHIPMENT. 



On page 31 of January Gleanings you express a 

 doubt about Ida., put in frames by the Given press, 

 being strong enough to bear shipment. I will say, 

 that three years ago next April I ordered of James 

 Heddon 4 hives and 40 frames with fdn., put in on 

 wires by the Given press, and they all came through 

 in good condition. I do not think that there was a 

 wire broken, or a piece of foundation broken down, 

 and it came clear up to the top-bar too, but did not 

 quite fill at ends and bottom. I presume they could 

 be made to fill all around, if necessary. I used the 

 hives and frames that summer to put new swarms 

 in, and I never saw any thing built out nicer than 

 those combs were, and it did not make any differ- 

 ence about the wires in the cells; the queen laid, 

 and the eggs hatched, and were sealed over just the 

 same as any. Chas. B. Richardson. 



Hollis, N. H., Jan. 21, 1884. 



Very glad to hear it, friend li. Yoii did 

 not say whether they went by express or 

 freight— probably by freight. This ship- 

 ment was made in warm weather. It would 

 likely have been more difficult in February 

 or March ; but it is also difficult to make 

 such frames stand shipment in cool weather, 

 when put on wires by hand. 



LADIES AT BEE CONVENTIONS. 



The bee-keepers of Miami County met on the 

 above date at the auditor's office at Troy, and organ- 

 ized the Bee-keepers' Association of Miami County, 

 by electing the following cfllcers: President, J. P. 

 Johnston, Piqua; Secretary, Miss Flora Combs, 

 New Carlisle; Treasurer, John M. Pearson, Tepa- 

 connue, and a vice-president from each township, as 

 far as represented. Seventeen bee-keepers went in- 

 to the organization, including several ladies. There 

 was considerable enthusiasm manifested, and much 

 intelligence. Phillip Noland. 



Piqua, Ohio, Jan. l!i, ISgi. 



The feature that interests me most in the 

 above is, that the convention had good sense 

 enough to put in a lady as secretary. At our 

 convention at Columbus, Mrs. Culp was put 

 on a committee. Of course, she objected, 

 and excused herself ; but I told her that she 

 must let her name appear, in any event, to 

 give weight and intluence to the committee, 

 for she was the most successful honey-pro- 

 ducer who had attended the convention for 

 two years ])ast. I think I made no mistake 

 in sayif.g this. Now, then, friends, let us not 

 forget to extend an invitation to the ladies to 

 take part in our bee conventions. 



gathering honey. Italians, blacks, and bumble-bees' 

 were busy. Will Mr. Harrington tell how to save 

 the seed, and how to prepare it fot hay? I am try- 

 ing to get up a club to send for some seed, as it is 

 hard to get here. J. N. Chap.man. 



Smoky Valley, Ky., Jan., 18F4. 

 I just submitted the question to neighbor 

 II., and he says the seed is saved just the 

 same as any other red clover, with the ex- 

 ception of what he says on the subject in the 

 article already alluded to. I believe the hay 

 is saved as any other hay. Any one familiar 

 with curing clover will know exactly what 

 to do with it. 



DEATH TO BEES FRO.M PARIS-GREEN POISONING. 



Mrs. Mosher's poetical effusion in January Glean- 

 ings reminds me that for a day or two last summer I 

 had considerable mortality in one hive— the bees 

 wabbling about in a queer kind of way, and about a 

 quart or two of dead ones, as the net result. As the 

 trouble ceased as suddenly as it began, and was con- 

 fined to one hive, I concluded the bees must have 

 been working on the potato-blossoms in the garden, 

 which had just then been dosed with Paris green. I 

 could assign no other reason. C. W. YouNO. 



Stratford, Ont., Jan. 8, 1884. 



BENJAMIN franklin's OPINION OF AMERICAN 



honey; an old letter. 

 We copy the following from the Evening 

 News, of Cleveland: 



Colonel A. S. M. Morgan, of Pittsburg, has in his 

 possession the following hitherto unpublished letter: 

 "Philadelphia, January 8,1787. Mr. John Morgan. 

 Sir: I find mj'self greatly obliged to your good 

 Father for the Hive full of Honey which he has so 

 kindly sent me, and tn you for thinking of me and 

 proposing it. I use it as a Part of my Regimen every 

 Morning at Breakfast. It is much the best I have 

 met with in America, and I think fully equals the 

 famous Honey of Narbonne, so much esteemed in 

 France. With my hearty Thanks, please to present 

 him mv best wishes for his Prosperity, and many 

 happy Years to you both, in all of which this Family 

 joins me. I am, sir. Your most obedient Servant. 

 "B. Franklin." 



BOTH sides of BEE CULTURE. 



It seems to me that the friends can not rightfully 

 accuse the bee-journals of " giving but one side of 

 the question," when they publish, time after time, 

 such letters as those of friends W.Z.Hutchinson 

 and H. W. Simon, in Gleanings for Jan. 1, pp. 5 and 



j 28. Send in your reports for Blasted Hopes, friends; 



j or, if you do not wish to do so, as friend Simon says, 

 do net blame the bee-journals for not publishing 

 them. L. P. Scott. 



Kinsman, O., Jan. 6, 188i. 



PEA-VINE, OR MAMMOTH RED CLOVER. 



I saw a very interesting piece in January Glean- 

 ings, page 20, by H. B. Harrington, on the pea-vine 

 clover. It certainly is of interest to the bee-raiser, 

 and to the farmer. The latter part of .luly I went 

 through a field ot mammoth clover. I heard the 

 bees humming, and wondered what they were doing 

 In the clover field. To my great surprise, they were 



150 I,BS. OF HONEY, AND $18.00 IN MONEY PER COL- 

 ONY FRO.M AN APIARY OF 43. 



In the fall of 1880 I had 47 colonies; in the spring 

 Of 1883 1 had 43— three verij weak. From the 40 

 I stands, which I worked for section honey alone, I 

 I averaged nearly 150 lbs. per colony, which I shipped, 

 . besides several hundred partly filled boxes still on 

 ' hand. The largest yield per colony was about 225 

 Ib.s.; three of them made a little over 225 lbs. each. 

 The honey sold brought me $18.00 per colony, besides 

 expenses. 1 have at this time 44 stands. The sea- 

 son this year was the best for many years. My bees 

 did as well, or better, than any I have heard from in 

 this section. Joseph A. Hart. 



Vineyard, Ind., Nov. 19, 1883. 



